Softball-sized hail smashes homes, cars in Texas

Jeanne Malone, left, walks past Christine Hubbard as she holds a bowl full of hail stones she collected following a hail storm Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in Hitchcock, Texas. Thousands of people in the Houston and Galveston areas have lost electricity in overnight storms that dropped hail the size of baseballs and broke windows. Emergency officials say no injuries were reported.

By Dale Lezon, The Houston ChronicleResidents in Hitchcock and Santa Fe woke up to broken roofs, shattered windows and dented cars after softball-sized hail battered the communities late Tuesday night.

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via AP

John Williams opens a plastic bag to cover up holes in a skylight of his trailer following the storm on Wednesday.

Powerful thunderstorms raked the area about 11 p.m., sparking hail and downpours, said Patrick Blood, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The storms downed power lines and tree limbs. No injuries were reported.

Hitchcock City Secretary Rose Marie Theiler, said she was asleep when she heard pounding on the side of her home. She looked out the window and saw huge icy balls bouncing across her yard.

"I got up because it sounded like somebody was throwing a ball against the house," she said. Read full story.

Brett Coomer /Houston Chronicle via AP

Several Hitchcock Police cars sit under tarps after they were damaged by the hail storm on Wednesday,

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via AP

Bob Paulson checks on the damage to his rented truck following the storm.